San Diego Primary Round Up – Have You Voted Yet?

The last few days have seen local Republicans crowing over various social media outlets about the “voter enthusiasm gap”. What this is all about is that the Registrar of Voters for San Diego has been steadily releasing information on the number of mail in ballots they have received, broken down by party affiliation. (You can tell this because of differences in the return envelope, indicating party affiliation if any.) Who people are actually voting for won’t be known until June 5th.

What the GOPer’s are talking about is the spread in favor of Republicans in terms of those ballots that have already been received. The Daily Fishwrap ran an article Tuesday that said Republicans had a six thousand vote lead over Democrats in mail-in votes. Another way of looking at would be that, Republicans, who are more likely to vote by mail, have returned two percent more ballots when compared to the total number of Democrat/Republican ballots mailed.

What this means, so we’re told over at conserv blog SDRostra, is that Republican voters are ‘out performing’ Democratic voters. This isn’t really all that surprising, because historically primary elections skew to the right side of the aisle. None-the-less, there are some people who don’t share SD Rostra’s enthusiasm.

Former School Board member and commenter extraordinaire Francis Zimmerman has filed a complaint with the County Registrar, saying the she fears the release of this data will influence voters and could sway final election results. County Registrar Deborah Seiler didn’t agree, telling the UTSD that providing this information is in the public interest. Since the process is automated the costs involved were negligible, according to Seiler. Nearly 50%of all mail voters will have voted by Saturday.

If You Haven’t Voted Already…

Mail-in voters now outnumber voters who go the polls, and the trend towards voting by mail is increasing steadily. For those who prefer to do the deed in person, polls open at 7 a.m. this coming Tuesday and remain open until 8 p.m. If you haven’t registered to vote you missed the boat for this election; you can register for the next election by going here and filling out the form. Mail in voters should mail no later than Friday to insure that their ballots will be received in time to be counted. (Late ballots are round-filed.) If you do not know where to go to vote, call the registrar at(858) 565-5800 (the link they put up on their website for this information doesn’t work). You can vote by fax if you forgot to mail in your ballot: fax your ballot to 858-694-2955.

Election Day Coverage

A really unique group has come together to ‘live blog’ Tuesday’s election results. The OB Rag, City Beat, The San DiegoFree Press (New!) and SD Rostra are doing a joint project on the evening of June 5th. There will be coverage from downtown San Diego and various locations around the area. It should be fun.

What We Think

The OB Rag has posted an amazing amount of stories about the candidates and the issues.

You have no excuses. Just do it. The real losers in any election are those that don’t vote. Two hundred years ago, you had to be white, male, and wealthy in order to vote. In the early years of the United States, as much as 85% of the population wasn’t allowed to vote. In some states only property owners could vote.

Even today, there are plenty of people who would just as soon that voting is limited to the elite in this country. And then there are the disparagers who plant their “voting is a waste of time” mantra on Facebook and other places throughout the internet. Some of them would rather settle our political differences with bombs or weapons of mass destruction. So just go vote, even if there is only one candidate or issue that is important to you; there is no law saying that you have to fill in the entire ballot.

Don’t forget; stop on by here at OB Rag Tuesday evening for our liveblogging of the election results.

Related

I actually enjoy going to the polls on election day. I check out what is happening, if anything, around my polling location. Inside, I take a long look at the diverse group of poll workers. They will be Vietnamese, some will be young, others not so young. They will speak Spanish and who knows how many other languages. In short, they will look like my City Heights community.
I thank the poll workers for being there and if there is time, bring a box of donuts. These folks put in a long, long day. For a few moments I can put aside my cynicism and even despair. I unabashedly love this place of civic engagement. No matter how wretched I may feel the following morning, when I digest the election results, there will be those few blessed moments when I feel optimism and hope.

It’s really too bad. I think a general matchup of Filner and Fletcher would be great for San Diego, and would provide a good, clean discussion of policy and the future of San Diego. The two candidates seem to like each other, even if they disagree on most things, and it would make for a refreshing and informative campaign between the two. Sadly, what we’ll be stuck with is more mudslinging and blatant deception by “Dirty” DeMaio and Co.

I agree that Filner/Fletcher would provide the most interesting, and likely best contested November matchup. But it looks like we’re in for DeMaio/Not DeMaio…a culture clash, rather than an exploration of ideas.

I’m registered as a permanent mail in voter (currently Dem, but that will be changing to “Decline to state”), but I’m planning on dropping it off at my regular polling location on election day. Occasionally for some of the more controversial issues I like to have more time to hear different points of view before voting. This time, not so much, but I still like the feel of the polling places. Another bonus for the mail-in ballot is that it can be turned in at any polling location, not just the one where one would have to vote in person.

Have you seen this video released last week detailing Bob’s history of creating positive change in San Diego? If not, see why so many voters know that Bob Filner is the only candidate with the leadership and experience needed to move our City toward a brighter future. As Bob said himself, we have the opportunity during this election to choose a new direction:

“Why not have a city where we dream again of greatness? So let’s dream! And working together we will make San Diego America’s greatest city.”

This election is nowhere near decided! Every vote will count, so please forward on to friends and family!

If you don’t know where to go to vote, you can get the info online from the Country Registrar http://tinyurl.com/3yz399
If you haven’t already returned your mail in ballot, you can complete it and turn it in any polling location today.
Go forth- and vote!

We just got back from dropping our ballots off at the Euclid Elementary School, in City Heights. The road on the Orange Avenue side is blocked off. New water pipes are being installed–much needed–but the traffic situation is a pain. I hope it doesn’t dissuade voters today. There was only one poll worker, and we were the only voters present. It was an eerie feeling. This is the 6th year the young poll worker has volunteered in that capacity. The first time was in high school, where he was an AP student. He’s been doing it ever since. There are only three poll workers assigned there. They will be there until 10pm tonight. Note to self: take them some donuts and chicken wings.

Vern May 24, 2019 at 6:27 am on OB Town Council Gets Prepped on RoundUpadditional info: The Diet of the Adult Monarch Butterfly The Monarch butterfly feeds on nectar form various flowers including milkweeds,...

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